Art Glass

I love art glass.  Last summer we went to Venice, among other places, and made a lightning trip to the island of Murano where I got a piece for my birthday from Cesare Toffolo.  It is the Veronese small vase here.  I don't know much about the techniques involved in making a filigree piece like this, I actually prefer to leave it a mystery so that I maintain that sense of awe and wonder.   The picture in no way does justice to it.

I found another glass artist online, Loren Stump, who lives in California.  He did a glass murrina of Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo DaVinci.

Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo DaVinci, Louvre

and you can see Mr. Stumps' murrina here.  It is breathtaking when you realize how it is made.  Long colored canes (or rods) of glass are used to form the "loaf" and the image is revealed when the loaf is cut in cross section:

Madonna of the Rocks, glass murrina, Loren Stump